Hard Cases (TV series)

British television crime drama series

Hard Cases

Genre| Crime drama
Created by|

* John Harvey
* Laurence James

Written by| John Harvey
Directed by| Richard Standeven
Starring|

* John Bowe
* Gil Brailey
* Eric Deacon
* Gaby Dellal
* Barry Jackson
* Gerrard McArthur
* June Barrie

Theme music composer| Tom Robinson
Opening theme| "Hard Cases"
Country of origin| United Kingdom
Original language| English
No. of series| 2
No. of episodes| 13
Production
Executive producer| Ted Childs
Producers|

* Andrew Benson
* Phillip Bowman

Production location| Nottingham
Editors|

* Patrick Harbinson
* Jimmy McGovern

Running time| 50 minutes
Production company| Central Independent Television
Original release
Network| ITV
Release| 18 January 1988 (1988-01-18) –
29 August 1989 (1989-08-29)

Hard Cases is a British television crime drama series, based upon a 1987 novel by John Harvey and Laurence James, that aired on ITV between 18 January 1988 and 29 August 1989.[1] Based around a group of officers from the crime probation service in Nottingham,[2][3] the cast was initially led by John Bowe, supported by Gil Brailey, Eric Deacon and Barry Jackson.[4] The series was one of the first British seasonal dramas to feature multiple lead characters and multiple, entwined stories, rather than reading an individual story in each episode.

The series notably featured Jimmy McGovern and Patrick Harbinson as its script editors, both of whom went on to have very successful careers as lead writers.[5] Graham Nicolls, a then-serving officer in the Nottingham CPS, acted as an advisor.[6] The series was accompanied by its own theme, written and performed by Tom Robinson, which was issued as a single by Robinson in 1988.[7] Notably, the series has neither been repeated since broadcast, nor is available on any form of home media.

## Cast

[edit]

* John Bowe as Martin Berry (Series 1)
* Gil Brailey as Gill Ridgeley (Series 1―2)
* Eric Deacon as Ross Kennedy (Series 1―2)
* Gaby Dellal as Leonie Friedman (Series 1)
* Barry Jackson as Jack Seymore (Series 1―2)
* Gerrard McArthur as Kevin Nash (Series 1―2)
* June Barrie as Hilary Bowen (Series 1―2)
* Denica Fairman as Chrissie Taylor (Series 2)
* Kevin McNally as Richard Pearce (Series 2)
* Sheila Ruskin as Lucy Davenport (Series 2)
* Valerie Hunkins as Charlotte Poole (Series 2)
* Sean Pertwee as Dominic Lutovski (Series 2)
* Ian Kirkby as Peter Collinson (Series 1)
* Brian Poyser as Cllr. Collinson (Series 1)
* Emma Bowe as Claire Sanderson (Series 2)

## Episodes

[edit]

### Series 1 (1988)

[edit]

Episode  | Title  | Director  | Writer  | Original airdate

|
|
|
|

1| TBA| Richard Standeven| John Harvey| 18 January 1988 (1988-01-18)
2| TBA| Richard Standeven| John Harvey| 25 January 1988 (1988-01-25)
3| TBA| Richard Standeven| John Harvey| 1 February 1988 (1988-02-01)
4| TBA| Richard Standeven| John Harvey| 8 February 1988 (1988-02-08)
5| TBA| Richard Standeven| John Harvey| 15 February 1988 (1988-02-15)
6| TBA| Richard Standeven| John Harvey| 22 February 1988 (1988-02-22)

### Series 2 (1989)

[edit]

Episode  | Title  | Director  | Writer  | Original airdate

|
|
|
|

1| TBA| Michael Brayshaw| Robert Kingsley| 18 July 1989 (1989-07-18)
2| TBA| Michael Brayshaw| Robert Kingsley| 25 July 1989 (1989-07-25)
3| TBA| Michael Brayshaw| Robert Kingsley| 1 August 1989 (1989-08-01)
4| TBA| Anthony Garner| Nick Whitby| 8 August 1989 (1989-08-08)
5| TBA| Anthony Garner| Robert Kingsley| 15 August 1989 (1989-08-15)
6| TBA| Andrew Morgan| Harry Duffin| 22 August 1989 (1989-08-22)
7| TBA| Andrew Morgan| Nick Whitby & Tim Whitby| 29 August 1989 (1989-08-29)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Mawby & Worrall p.96
2. ^ "'Public Enemies': Probation and risk management".
3. ^ "Shooting the Breeze with JOHN HARVEY".
4. ^ Thames Continuity & Adverts - 1988. YouTube. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021.
5. ^ "Jimmy McGovern".
6. ^ https://www.mmuperu.co.uk/assets/uploads/bjcj_files/BJCJ-10-2_-_Nellis-FULL.pdf [dead link‍]
7. ^ "Tom Robinson - Hard Cases". Discogs.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Rob C. Mawby & Anne Worrall. Doing Probation Work: Identity in a Criminal Justice Occupation. Routledge, 2013.

## External links

[edit]

* Hard Cases at IMDb

*[No.]: Number